Dave Connolly, his teammate in the Torco Racing Fuels/Slammers Ultimate
Milk Cobalt, suffered through a few glitches but still produced a stellar
run that put him in the No. 5 berth. But both will have very competitive
tune-ups when eliminations get underway. Coughlin meets Greg Stanfield
(No. 14, 6.685 at 206.01) while Connolly battles Kurt Johnson (No. 12,
6.685).

Coughlin clicked off runs of 6.703, 6.653, 6.658 and 6.685 seconds in
varying track conditions. The 6.653, obviously, was the quickest, but
the last one, coming in warm temperatures and on a hot track, was
impressive and the third-quickest of the session.

"We sure were consistent," said Coughlin, currently fourth in POWERade
Series points. "We were sixth for the first session and third for the
last three. We could've been a little quicker on a couple of those runs
but we have a little bit of opportunity left. I am very optimistic going
into race day. I think we have a great car and it has been very
consistent. We've run two different motors this weekend and that says a
lot about Victor Cagnazzi's engine shop. Hopefully we can get it done."

Connolly, meanwhile, was not evenin the starting line-up Saturday and
admitted to being a little nervous going into his opening run. Butthe
yellow and black Chevy Cobalt responded with a 6.655-second, 206.61-mph
performance thatnestled him in fifth place.

"We thought it would run 6.66, but we went 6.655 to get back on
track," said Connolly, who goes into eliminations in third place in
POWERade Series points. "We had a little problem in Friday
night's run when the engine broke. We have new race cars and
sometimes something breaks, but it happened in one of the best sessions
of the weekend.

"We are solidly in the show. Conditions on our last run were pretty bad
so we changed the car a bit and it didn't work. Jeg made a good run and
what works good in his car works good in ours. Both cars have been
pretty close in the last three races, so we should be in good shape."